


Threads

by youngbek



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Adventure, COE Fixit, Children of Earth Fix-It, F/F, Immortality, M/M, Mild torture, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Victorian, janto
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2016-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4307259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngbek/pseuds/youngbek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After House of the Dead, Ianto fell through the rift. When he ends up farther in the past than he'd like, who will help him get back to his time, and Jack? Janto. Contains Doctor Who characters. Set after House of the Dead for Torchwood and just before The Snowmen for Doctor Who. Spoilers for both series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling

It seemed to happen immediately. The suction pulled Ianto back away from the world that only six months ago he had been alive and free to enjoy. Though to him it felt like only this morning.

There was a strange cloud in his mind. It was a space that separated what Jack told him was true about his untimely demise, and what Syriath lead him to believe. He wanted to believe his own mind more than anything. He wanted to believe that he had woken up at six sharp and put the coffee on. He wanted to believe he was alive. He looked down at himself. He looked real, he looked alive. He looked out at Jack. He saw pain etched across his features. He looked more broken than he had ever seen him.

He would believe Jack.

He steeled himself, took one last look at Jack, knowing his lover was likely the last thing he would ever see before falling into the void. Jack was nearly sobbing out heaving breaths, though no tears were falling down his face. His arms were limp at his sides in a deliberate manner, as though he was keeping himself from reaching into the pub's doorway and retching Ianto from it. The force pulling Ianto backwards into the rift seemed like nothing compared to the tugging at his heart that told him he should stay on Earth. Not only for Jack, but honestly, he was scared. The energy in his legs was surging to step forward and meet the pavement only a few feet away. He was shaking and his mind did nothing to calm him. Every thought he had was another awful way that he might perish in the rift. He only vaguely knew of what it had in store, and what he did know he dreaded to face.

Like a stab in the gut he remembered the others who had been sucked through, and where they lived out their pain filled lives. They had gone mad in the heart of stars, a burned shell of what they had been. He had heard the screaming, had seen the crying and brokenness of Flam Holm. He didn't want to end up like that. If he did end up in some far reach of space like they had, he couldn't even count on getting back home to face out his life on the island.

The rift would be shut behind him. Something so constant in his life would be wiped clean off the face of the Earth. Even before he knew what the rift was, he swore he remembered feeling it. It was the slow winding tick beneath his feet, as familiar as the stopwatch's weight that was almost constantly in his pocket. It would be gone now. Torchwood wouldn't be needed anymore. He wouldn't be needed at Torchwood. Everything he had accepted into his life and identity was being erased in one blast. He didn't know what he would be without Earth, without the rift, and without Jack.

All his musings and fears stopped dead in their tracks as the world around him faded into nothingness. No matter how much he thought about the universe he was now leaving, nothing could prepare him. However, no force on Earth or any other planet could stop it. He closed his eyes and wound his limbs in tightly around himself. After a few seconds or hours spent in the awkward fetal position, he drew his legs down away from himself.

The strangest feeling encircled him. He had no means of knowing up from down. He wasn't even sure he had a body to maneuver. He could see nothing. It was a strange combination of dark and light that allowed no hints to his surroundings. If he didn't get out of this soon he was sure to go insane. But what was soon? He had been here for ages, or had he just gotten here? It was impossible to tell. Vertigo was starting to take its toll on his stomach. Blood began rushing up to his head and back down again in a way that was making his eyes go fuzzy and his mind go blank. He could feel himself losing consciousness and fought against it. It was unsure if he would ever wake up. He opened his eyes wide and refused to even blink, sure if he closed his eyes he would not be opening them again.

After what seemed like longer than he had been alive, he heard something. It was a boom of voices and noises from a busy street. From what he could tell, it was English. Better yet, it was English with Welsh accents. He closed his eyes tight in concentration. Was it his imagination trying to occupy himself, echoes of the rift closing and swallowing up his home, or something else?

Suddenly the insides of his eyelids began to glow red. He opened his eyes and saw a thin beam of light a distance away from him. He tried to move towards it, but found he could not. He found he didn't need to, as the light was growing and rushing forward to meet him.


	2. Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto's finally exited the rift. But where has it landed him, and does he had any way back?

His feet dropped harshly to the ground and he fell to his knees at the impact. He tried to open his eyes but found everything too bright. The smell of refuse and rain were sharp and vivid in his nostrils. It was like feeling, smelling, breathing for the first time ever. The air was thick in his lungs, and he relished it. He attempted once again to open his eyes and succeeded.

Blinking blearily he took in his surroundings. He was in an alleyway. It looked to be Earth. In fact, if the voices he heard from out on the street were anything to go by, it was Wales. He shook his growing headache off and heaved himself to his feet. Using the worn brick wall as support, he began his trudge into the street. He looked at the signs around him, telling him where he was. Some he didn't recognize, but one he did. The name St. Mary's hung high above his head. He'd been to this street many times in his life.

Okay, so he was still in Cardiff. That was a plus if only a measly one compared to the negatives. Yes, it was Cardiff, but a quick look at the small run-down buildings around him and outfits of the people he'd passed told him it was no longer 2010.

It looked to be around the 19th century. The dresses of the women that strutted past him in a distinctly upper-class fashion told him that it had to be Victorian. The ladies in question were eyeing him in disdain, obviously judging every bit of him that was visible throughout the scan.

He looked down at his well-tailored modern suit. With a sickening feeling he realized that he needed a change of clothes. His trousers were covered in mud and what looked like sick. His suit jacket had a tear that looked like it went through his shirt as well. Upon looking at his tattered sleeve, his arm started to hurt as he realized that he must have injured his arm as well. Slowly and cautiously he peeled back the fabric to assess the damage. He breathed out a sigh of relief. It was only a light scratch, a small amount of blood had already ceased to drip from it.

Now that he knew that he wasn't badly hurt, he began thinking on what he would do. He knew he couldn't stay in this time. There were too many things that could go wrong, too many small things that were easy to change. He knew that time wasn't horribly fragile, but this was where his ancestors grew up. It was where his job was just getting its beginnings. Plus, he knew Jack would be around here eventually, He had joined Torchwood at some point in the late 19th century. In fact, he was probably in the city right now, tricking people out of their hard-earned wages. He had to avoid him. Of course he didn't expect to be remembered a hundred years from now, not when he was a nameless face in a crowd, but he couldn't be certain that he wouldn't give up all restraint when he saw Jack.

The little time between now and when he first arrived in The House of The Dead seemed like days, months even. It was like the past few months since his death were trying to cram their way back into his life in the last few hours. He needed the comfort. He needed Jack, and he was determined to get back to him, no matter how long from now it was.

First he needed to know exactly what year it was. Jack could have already joined up. It could even have been before even Torchwood started, but if it wasn't he had to be sure to avoid them. He had been in the archives long enough to know all the previous members, and he didn't want to be around to meet the ones around this time. Back then, Torchwood Cardiff was like a sadistic Torchwood One. Not only did they think anything that came through the rift was theirs, but everything even mildly out of the ordinary as well. Odds are, if he were to go to them for help, they would only use him to an advantage.

And that didn't even take into account the archives. This was before the archives went off the deep end. The records where preserved quite nicely in this time. It wasn't until the mid 20th century that it had become the hell-house that Ianto had painstakingly organized and cleaned in his last two years. He was sure he had Jack to blame for that.  
No, Torchwood wouldn't help him. Even if they were willing, they weren't able to, anyway. The only option for them would be to freeze him in the morgue, which had blown up the week that his entire life had fallen apart. He couldn't be taken out before that without alerting his past self, and he didn't want to end up dying again. So if they couldn't help, he had better get the hell out of Cardiff.

The only other place to go he could think of was London, but how was he supposed to get there? He doubted Syiath had given him pocket change when she resurrected his body. He had a feeling she wasn't nearly that generous to those she put in a trap. Even if she was feeling particularly kind, it most likely would have been notes printed at least a century from now. A quick check of his pockets told him, no, there was no luck of even modern money.

Luckily he also had a few tricks up his sleeve. Even before Gwen had led them in their spat of crime after the loss of the Hub, he wasn’t a stranger to theft. He’d been stealing and shoplifting since before he was even a teenager. He had only gotten caught once, and he had learned since then.

By the next hour he had enough for a meal and a train ride, not that he planned on eating anytime soon. His stomach was still upset from his time in the rift. They smell wafting from a nearby restaurant assured him that he was not hungry. Instead he figured he had better get into costume. He certainly didn’t have enough money to dress as he usually did, but a quick survey showed him that there were many other sources for clothing.

After he was dressed suitably, he decided it was time to begin other plans of getting home. He at least looked like he might have belonged in the middle class Victorian era, if a bit too clean. The people didn’t stare as he walked through the streets now, which was all he could wish for at that moment.

Now he only had to get to London. He had no idea what would be there to help him, but he knew he had higher chances there than in Cardiff. He remembered one of Jack’s many anecdotes about the Doctor, how he was always saving the city. If he could only get a hold of the time traveling alien, then he was sure to have a way to get back home. Only problem was that the Doctor that Jack knew seemed to stay in Ianto’s modern era.

He quickly got his bearings and started towards the train station to begin his slow journey home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. Sorry for taking so long to update. I've recently had some computer troubles, and have been getting ready to go to school again, but I should be updating fairly soon. Thank you again and remember, I love reviews of any kind.


	3. Fissure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto makes it to London and finds a lead to getting some help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small warning as there is a description of a panic attack, if you are susceptible to that, read at your own discretion. Other than that I hope you enjoy.

The ride was long and monotonous, allowing Ianto to truly think for the first time since he had first ended up at the House of the Dead. The slow rumble of the train across the tracks was the only thing that he could hear in the small deserted carriage. It was strange and eerie to be alone in the cramped car, but Ianto paid it no heed. If he closed his eyes shut tightly enough he might have been able to shut out all of the time that had passed since things had last made sense. The only thing that was keeping him from doing so was the nagging discomfort in both his brain and body.

For some reason is shoulder hurt more than it should have where he had scraped it. He usually had an extremely high pain tolerance. Most of his days were spent getting injured, especially before he was properly trained. Even in his childhood he was accident prone. Or, more accurately, he was more prone to getting beat up. In total, he had felt a lot of pain in his life. His shoulder should not hurt this much. Usually at this point it would already be a dull ache, and would have been replaced in his brain with more important information.

He realized with a shudder that it was probably because this wasn't the same body he had when he was truly alive. That body was dead, buried in a hole miles away, and a century in the future. Even that was assumed. He had no idea what they had done with his body. Jack didn't even know when he asked him. He might be frozen in the bottom of a Unit morgue, left to be forgotten with the rest of his coworkers from One. It was almost funny how ironic that was. He had lived through the battle, no matter how much it had destroyed his life. He had made it out, only to join them less than three years later. It almost didn't matter that he made it out alive and unconverted. Ultimately he was doomed to the same fate.

He almost wished he had stayed that way. Suzie was right, the darkness was crushing, maddening, but it was almost better than this. He couldn't really decide whether he was alive or not. Whether this was real, or whether he would keel over at the next second. He remembered Owen, and how he must have felt as this happened to him. Selfishly, he felt that his own situation was almost worse. Yes, his heart was still beating, and the growing pressure in his bladder told him that the rest of his organs were in working order, but he was out of his time, out of his body. This was not the body that he had been born with. It had never ridden his childhood bike, gone to university, or worked in the Archives. This body had never known Lisa, had never held Jack, had never laughed with his team.

He felt robbed. Not only of his life that the 456 had stolen from him, but everything that had made him Ianto Jones. It felt uncomfortable to flex his fingers, knowing that it was the first time he had done so. For the first time since he had seen Jack in that blasted pub, things had settled enough for him to think, and he didn't like it at all. Every hopeless thought was running through his head, and he couldn't seem to make it stop.

A hollow feeling started to grow in his chest as the loss sunk into his core. He felt the need to fold himself over and put his head to his knees. Hopelessness surrounded his mind almost completely. His breath quickened and soon he couldn't tell one from the next. His ears started ringing and he wondered if he had stopped breathing at all. A misty haze fell in front of his eyes and he blinked rapidly, trying to shake the veil from him. Distantly, he was aware that he had other limbs besides his face. His fingers had been clutching the seat next to him last he could remember, but he couldn't feel those either. Soon his throat began to close in on itself in protest to the amount of air passing through it. A strangled noise fell from his mouth. He brought a shaking hand to his mouth and bit down, hoping that anyone outside his own carriage didn’t hear any sobs that slipped from his lips. 

He had to get a hold of himself. He had training against this. He knew how to keep a level head in times of distress. He had dealt with panic before, he would again. He took a deep, stuttering breath in. He let it out, even slower than he had brought it in. Again. In… Out… In…Out.

Soon he could see again. A short while after, he could think again, and what seemed like seconds after that he heard the sounds of the city that told him he arrived in London. He let out a shaky laugh, and stepped out onto the bricks of the platform. His legs felt weak, but at least now they were solid, and he was making progress. Now he just had to figure out where to go from here.

Slowly he ambled down the street. It was eerily different than the city he used to live in all those years ago. He knew that at least a hundred years from now he would have walked these streets. One of these buildings was the pub that he went to after a hard day’s work. At some point a large block of these flats would be torn down, and a skyscraper larger than life would replace it. The people in that office would work to save the world from the rest of space. The people there would fail. Still it was where he built his life. But none of that was here now. Once again he was the last man standing, alone and trying with all his might to get some sort of support. He had to get his home back, again.  
He was so deep in thought about what he would try to do next, he almost missed the sound of a commotion at the end of an alleyway that he was passing. Everything in his instincts told him to ignore it, but everything in his training told him to investigate. He figured he should listen to his instincts. He wasn’t in his own time, so he surely wasn’t held to the standards he had when he was working. However, before he had even managed to properly think it through, he was already barreling toward the perceived threat.

He reached the end of the small walk way to find a woman, about his age, fighting off what Torchwood had begun to call a blowfish. Automatically he reached towards the small of his back for his gun, before remembering that it wouldn’t be there.

“Fuck.” He said under his breath. Not only was he unarmed, but he might have just run into the beginnings of Torchwood One. He didn’t know the exact year he had landed in, it could be at least 20 years after or before Torchwood had made its way to London.

Unfortunately, the girl heard his tiny protest, and seemed to be losing the fight against the alien,

“Oi” She called to him, “Could you gimme some help” She spoke in a heavy London accent. Cockney, with a tinge of upper class that she seemed to consciously add to her singsong lilt.

He knew he shouldn’t get involved, but was he really going to just leave this girl on his own? He felt at least a little responsible for people’s safety from aliens, no matter what time he was in. Eventually, conscious won over the rest of his mind and he wrestled the blowfish off of her, and got it into a choke hold. The girl took handcuffs that looked high tech even by modern Torchwood’s standards out of the folds of her dress and secured them to the blowfish’s wrists.

“Thanks” She said as she took the arms of the captive and began to walk away. Ianto knew he had to think quickly. If this girl was Torchwood, she might know some way to get him back home to his own time. It also could mean tests and interrogation, but he would rather that than be stuck in a world without proper hygiene. Plus, he had already used all the money that he had stolen. He made his decision and sprinted towards the girl.

“Wait!” He shouted as he neared her.

“What for?” She said as she stopped for him, hand tightening harshly on the blowfish, who winced at the added pressure. “I got my man, ‘S all I needed, thanks.”

“Care to return the favor?” He said and regretted his words the second they left his mouth and her face crinkled up with distaste.

“Not a chance, you’re really not my type” She said as she rolled her eyes and continued walking. Ianto jogged to keep up with her.

“Not what I meant. What I mean is… Well” He tried to word his thoughts more carefully “Those cuffs seem way too advanced for this time period.” He said, adding just enough information to get her attention. 

“What’d you mean? How’d you know?” She enquired, not afraid to get into his personal space in order to read him better.

“Because I’m not from this time period, either.” He figured he should be as open as he could now. It would be less to torture out of him later. If she already had alien tech, it was likely it wouldn’t be that hazardous to tell at least a little of the future. The girl bothered to look surprised for only a moment before turning her face back to a neutral expression that unnerved him. He knew that trusting this girl was a risk, a much higher risk than he’d taken in a long time. He gathered his nerves completely and stuck out his hand, beckoning for her to shake it.

“An’ what do you want from me?” She said instead of grabbing it. 

“I’d like to make a deal. Mostly… I’d like to get back home.” He said, knowing it fell lamely from his lips to her ears. Her delicate eyebrow raised dramatically, accentuating the amused smirk painted across her features.

“In the future?” She said, obviously taking more humor in the question than Ianto did. The blowfish under her arm groaned loudly, the recent beating making it come out as more of a growl. Ianto glared at it, and it rolled his eyes and looked away, bored at the conversation.

“Yes.” 

“What makes you think I’ve got a time machine?” She questioned, walking forward again, but this time at a pace that allowed Ianto to walk with her.

“Where would you get those cuffs otherwise?” He returned, hoping dearly that she wouldn’t mention Torchwood.

“I’ve got this friend,” She started, before she reached a carriage that seemed to belong to her. The driver got off the front to aid her in getting their prisoner securely into the coach. Ianto jolted backwards as he saw the figure in front of him. Though he had never met them personally, he knew a Sontaran when he saw one. Again his hand twitched towards his absent gun before he forced it back to hang limply at his side. He was startled when the short alien grabbed at the blowfish in order to shove it into the back of the carriage. It wasn’t until after the girl spoke that he realized he was staring. 

“’S alright. He's not from ‘round here either, but he’s fine” Ianto blinked away from the Sontaran to lock eyes with her.

“Last I saw any Sontarans, they were trying to take over the world.” He said to her, occasionally glancing between them. As he finished speaking, the militant alien marched to the front of the carriage again and got into the driver’s seat, impatiently waiting for the young woman to get into the back. She began her ascent into the seat, before Ianto grabbed her hand, attempting to stop her leaving before he got her help. She met his eyes just as she was about to find a weapon to defend herself with. She stopped as she saw his face, desperate and sad.

“Please” He said, yet again gaining her attention and pity. “Please, I need to get home. If there’s any way you could help me… I wouldn’t half owe you.”

“How do you think I could help?” She said, testing him. 

“If you got those cuffs you must have some sort of connection with the future.”

“Like I said, I got this friend. He got it for me.”

“Do you think he’d help me? Do you have contact with him?” Ianto asked a bit more insistently than he had hoped. 

“I dunno” She said hesitantly, and just as Ianto was going to continue to try and convince her, she cut him off. “Only, the Doctor doesn’t get out much anymore. What?” She said as she noticed the overall change in Ianto’s demeanor. His eyes brightened into determined and sharp orbs, glinting as he finally got a true hope of finding his way home again.

“The Doctor?” He nearly shouted, excitement lacing words.

“Figures you know him. Small universe” Ianto chuckled at her comment.

“You don’t know the half of it. So you’ll bring me to him?” The girl thought for a few seconds before responding.

“Right, but you’ll have to talk to someone before hand. Convince her and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

Ianto grinned up at her before bringing his hand up once more to shake hers. She took is outstretched arm and tugged him into the carriage, moving over to give him more room beside her.

“My name’s Ianto, by the way” He mentioned, finally remembering to introduce himself.

“I’m Jenny Flint.” She responded as her sent a stunning glint of a smile his way. Then to the driver she shouted harshly, “Come on, Strax”

The coach quickly juddered into motion, and down the street towards where Ianto finally knew he had help waiting for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter is giving me a little trouble but I hope to have it out as soon as possible.


	4. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto finally found someone who can get him help. He just wished he didn't have to play her stupid games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of this dialogue is heavily drawn from and influenced by the Doctor Who episode "The Snowmen" in the interrogation scene. Please note that while I blended these into my own writing, those quotes are not mine. No copyright infringement intended.   
> I also revised Jenny's dialogue and removed the diction from it. It was hard to write, and I can imagine it was a little hard to read, so it'll be relatively normal from here on out. Other than that, I hope you enjoy!  
> I'd also like to thank my darling beta, boredsince1894. She has a series going on that you should really check out, because it is beautiful.  
> Sorry it's taken so long to update, I have the next 3 chapters already written and in the editing stages, so it shouldn't happen again.   
> Thank you for reading, and enjoy :D

He slowly walked into the room, hands at the ready to arm himself with a gun that was no longer present. The Sontaran that had driven the coach on the way shuffled over to him, and gave an uncomfortable smile that looked utterly misplaced on his squashed features.

“Do not make any sudden moves if you wish to live." He spoke, immediately putting Ianto off ease as the alien stared into his eyes, still awkwardly grinning at him. He longed again for a means to defend himself. The short alien extended an arm towards him and he instinctively took a step away. "May I take your coat?" He asked in a more congenial manner than he had expected. Stunned, Ianto slipped off his coat and handed it to him.

"Thanks" The Welshman said, surprised at how quiet and hoarse his voice had become. He peered into the room which Jenny was leading him into. Around him hung flowers and leaves in baskets like a posh jungle. His heart juddered as he wondered what could be hidden in the chamber he was being pushed through. He steeled himself and continued, hoping that he wasn’t being led, quite literally, into a lion’s den. He wondered how wise a decision it was to trust and follow the strangers. Even if it had been his only hope, it might lead to a much sooner end for himself. He forced himself to believe that a second death would be better than a life on the run. If he didn’t find a way out of this century, he knew he would need to lay low for the rest of his existence, however long or short that was.

Some brightly colored leaves brushed lightly at his head as he passed them, alerting him of his rather stunning surroundings. He resolved himself to whatever fate he would have, and finally let himself admire the scenery around him. It reminded him of the hot house in the Hub, only this was far superior. Each plant seemed more and more otherworldly, and he wished to himself that Owen could have seen them. He could imagine the countless hours the medic could spend studying and caring for the plants that were splayed before him. During his final days, the hot house was where he could be found almost around the clock. If he had even gone home after his first death, the rest of the team hadn’t noticed it. Ianto could relate. When Torchwood took all of the outside life that they had, the Hub was really the only place that was a comfort. They each had their own sanctuary, and everyone else could respect that. 

Those thoughts flew away from him as fast as they arrived when he saw the occupant of the room. There was a human-sized lizard dressed in a frock sitting in an elaborately adorned chair. It appeared to be a woman, but apart from the elegant dress, he couldn't tell. She was drinking a deep red drink that looked like wine. It was almost surprising how posh she looked when her face was so alien. He stared for more seconds than was polite as she held eyes with him. A knowing smile spread across her face, and he looked back at Jenny for reassurance. The young girl gave him a light smile and nodded towards the chair opposite the lizard, silently telling him to sit there. He toed his way towards the chair, trying to make little noise as possible. He was sure that the alien would pounce on him if he made a single sound. It opened its mouth to speak and, despite himself, he leaned forward in the chair to listen. 

"There are two refreshments in your world the color of red wine." She spoke in an upper class accent, drifting her delicate, scaly hands towards the table beside her in order to set down her glass. The Welshman was soothed by her smooth voice, and all of the fear drifted from him. Her eyes sharpened suddenly and he was put back on guard. "This is not red wine."

"Cheery" Ianto retorted, the word spilling from his mouth before he could stop it. He noticed that she was blatantly trying to intimidate him, and somehow that made him less afraid. That and the fact that it seemed obviously scripted made him feel much more relaxed than he had only moments before. He heard Jenny snort behind him, before it was quashed by a look from the mistress of the house. When the maid spoke again, it was in a much more authoritative tone, trying to gain back the dignity she had lost.

"Madame Vastra will ask you questions. You will confine yourself to single word responses. One word only. Do you understand?" She questioned him, moving so that he could see her face. Her delicate, attractive features were straight and stern, a sizeable change from the girl he had met on the street. 

"Of course. Why, can I ask?" He responded, as both pairs of eyes fell upon him in an annoyed manner. "Oh, was that starting now?" He awkwardly shifted in his chair, wondering if they would answer his question and move on, or just throw him back onto the street.

"It is because truth is singular. Lies are words, words, words." Vastra spoke with an air of authority that made someone sound much older than they were. With the amount of talking that Vastra was doing, he wondered if he was the one who shouldn’t have been trusted. He had often heard Jack use this tone when he wanted a sentient alien threat to leave the planet peacefully. There were many things he found similar to Jack about the Lizard Queen. He fought to keep the smile off of his exhausted face as he realized that this would be easier than he thought. He already knew all of her tricks.

"You've met the Doctor, haven't you?"

"Eh, yeah," Ianto said, wondering if the short words he had spoken to the time lord while they put the world back in its rightful place counted as meeting.

"And you've come looking for him again. Why?"

"Stuck." He stated, quickly growing tired of the one worded responses. He didn't talk that much at the best of times, yet this was just irritating.

"What do you want from him?" Vastra threw back, unfazed by the awkward interrogation.

"Help."

"Why?"

"Time." He could see Jenny's head moving between the two of them like she was watching a tennis match.

"Why would he help you?" The lizard woman clarified. He thought of the kind, attractive man he had seen over the computer screen in the Hub. He thought of how much Jack trusted him, and how he had saved them all. He thought about how Torchwood had helped him do it.

"Friends." He put simply. Vastra puffed out her chest and seemed to grow in her seat.

"The Doctor has no friends. He has not had friends for many years." Bull, thought Ianto, but continued on as though he hadn't called her bluff at all.

"No?"

"No." She said firmly, and for a single tense second Ianto worried that she wouldn't elaborate. Taking in a breath she readied herself to continue and he let out a breath of relief. "The Doctor is above friends. He stands above this world, and doesn't interfere with the affairs of its inhabitants. He is not your friend, nor your protector. Do you understand?" Now he was taken aback. The Doctor he saw had had more friends than Ianto had in his entire life. It couldn't be the same man, but at the same time, the way Jenny had spoken about him assured him that he was at the right place. Something must have happened to him.

"Changed?" He questioned, aware that Vastra was growing upset at the questions directed at her. Still she continued as if it meant nothing to her.

"Yes. He was different once, a long time ago." She almost seemed sad at this information. For once she didn't seem like the Doctor's devoted guard dog, but a friend. "Kind, heroic, a savior of worlds centuries over. But he suffered great loses which hurt him. Now he prefers isolation to the possibility of pain's return." The awe of which she spoke of him was palpable. He could relate to every word she said about the valiant man who had changed the man Ianto loved. He thought of the pain that could cause the change Vastra spoke of. The pain Jack must be feeling a century from where he now stood, grasping at every loose strand to get back. He hoped that Jack wouldn't give up as the Doctor did. He was broken out of his musings by the woman opposite of him. "Kindly choose a word to indicate your understanding of this."

"Selfish." He steeled himself against the onslaught he was sure to face as he said it. To his surprise Vastra only sighed and nodded her head, sadness coating her eyes as she thought of the hero she obviously admired.

"Yes, some might think so. I would be inclined to agree with you. I assist him in his isolation, but I do not approve of it. In my opinion, the world needs its hero back. So, a test for you. Give me a message for the Doctor. Tell him about time, and why you are here, but most of all explain why he should help you."

Ianto thought, pondering what he should say that would convince her. He thought about what would convince Jack if he had only just met him. He knew only a threat to the world would make Jack listen to him. Myfanwy told him that much. He knew if the planet he loved was in danger, he would have to come to its aid. If he knew the dangers of Ianto being in this time, he might just help.

"Paradox" He said, hoping it would convince the cold-blooded matriarch of the gang that was beginning to remind him of his own. Instantly he knew it wasn't enough for her as she raised the ridge where her eyebrows would have been if she were human. A sly grin spread across her face as she noticed his attempts to read her.

This certainly was not turning out to be as easy as he thought it would. A well-placed look could throw Jack off his guard, if someone had a pretty face. He had a feeling the same worked for Vastra as well, but as she watched Jenny bend to pour more tea, he had figured his looks weren't going to sway her. He mentally groaned as he realized she probably wanted him to see her checking out her maid. She wanted him to know that he didn't distract her at all.

After a few more silent moments passed, Ianto began to awkwardly shift in his seat, unaware of what he was to expect next, and what his response should be. Vastra was giving no clues, and Jenny seemed as uncomfortable as he was, still glancing between her boss and him in off-handed concern.

Vastra focused her attention back on the Welshman, whose concentration wavered under her scrutiny.

"What sort of paradox? How does this effect you, or talking to the Doctor?"

"Future" He said, knowing that he had to let them know that he absolutely had to get back. Jenny's eyes brightened, just as they did before, when Ianto spoke of the time that he was from. Vastra's smirk deepened as he let out the new information.

"How far?" She asked him, obviously as intrigued as her maid.

"2010" He said as quickly as she had.

"And why should he care?" Ianto thought of Jack. The immortal man had done so much for the time lord, this should have been a given. He should already be in the Doctor's bright blue box on his way to his lover. Jack deserved that much and more from the Doctor. He eyes narrowed in determination.

"Owe." He said. He heard a quiet squeak from Jenny, who had moved back behind him. Vastra scoffed.

"You believe he owes you?" She asked incredulously. Before she was able to rant on, he shook his head cutting her off, leaving a look of distaste on her face.

"Jack"

Her eyes glinted again, and he wondered how much of his past the Doctor had told Vastra.

“Yes, he has told me the names of some of his old friends, something that he has been in dire need of as of late.”

“Help?” Ianto asked, wondering if he had finally waded through the maze of questions that Vastra was so obviously fond of. A small, but genuine smile drifted onto her scaled features. A giddy chill ran through his stomach, grateful and excited to meet the man he had only ever met from afar.

“I will speak to him for you, but whether he decides to aid you is up to him.”

“Thank you” He responded, taking his chances with the single extra word, wondering if the game was over. He hoped it was. 

“You are welcome” She said, and it sounded strange as they fell from her mouth, like she wasn’t used to saying it. “Now you are free to move about the home while I contact the Doctor” She said as she got out of her chair and walked to an adjoined door just barely concealed by vines. He sprung from his plush seat and stretched his limbs, trying to wake himself fully. Awkwardly he shifted from side to side, wondering what he should do with his time now. He had no idea how long it would take for Vastra to get a reply, but he figured it might be a while. He needed to find a way to occupy himself. He heard the clack of porcelain and turned to see Jenny as she put away the china that her boss had been sipping from. He rushed to help her as she almost dropped the pile she was carrying.

“Thanks” She said, most of her focus still on the stack in her hands.

“No problem, here, let me help you clean this up” He muttered, already taking half of the cups in her hand and following her down the hall to an oversized kitchen. Jenny seemed even smaller in the room. For the first time Ianto wondered if she was the only maid that worked in the huge mansion. She carefully settled the china into the sink and set to washing them. Ianto watched for less than a minute before sidling up beside her and helping with her dishes. For a few seconds they stood in silence, both content to do part of the work before Ianto tried to make some form of conversation, if an awkward one.

"So, you and Vastra..." Ianto began, not needing to look at the girl next to him to know that the intention of his sentence was clear. Jenny stiffened at his side as she tried to think of a way to explain herself in a way that would seem proper for the time period.

"It's alright," He told her, "Stuff like that's a lot more acceptable in my time."

She glanced at him, and he knew she wanted to know more about his time again, but knew better than to jump straight to it.

"How'd you know 'bout the missus and me?" She asked him, a light smirk gracing features that in any other context Ianto would have found gorgeous. He huffed out a light laugh through his nose.

"Jack and I. We're the same. I'm a lover and a butler, I suppose." Jenny silently washed her dishes before speaking up.

"I understand why you'd want to get back to him then. I'd be worried to death if I left Vastra on her own."

Ianto quietly chuckled in agreement.

"They are useless, aren't they?" He chuckled.

"For most things, yeah. Mind you..." She giggled putting effort into laughing out the rest, "Vastra's got a four foot tongue.”

Ianto was stunned for a few seconds before whistling out his surprise

"If the Doctor decides to be a twat, you mind if I come live with you two?" Jenny gasped next to him as he laughed at his own joke.

"Oi! She's married"

"Sorry, sorry. Just joking. I couldn't resist. Jack's got into me." They waited a few seconds before bursting out laughing again. “Okay, that’s the last of them, I promise” He grinned at her from the comer of his mouth, without needing to turn his head towards her. 

“You’d better.” Jenny shot back at him. 

“So, how’d you end up with her?” He asked after calming down, curious to where Vastra was even from, let alone how she could end up so well off, and married to her maid.

“Suppose I can thank the Doctor for that. He saved my life when I met him. I had nowhere else to go after that so he dropped me off ‘round here. Rest is history I suppose.” It wasn’t exactly the answer he was looking for, but it definitely sounded like the old Doctor he knew.

“Hell, I bet every couple in the universe got set up by the Doctor.”

“You too?”

“Sort of. The Doctor’s the reason Jack was in my time to begin with. He’s the reason Jack’s still alive at all.”

“Yeah, he tends to be. Most of the time, anyway” She finished solemnly. Ianto could tell that something was weighing on the hearts of everyone living in the house, something to do with the Doctor. He didn’t want to pry, but there was something about the situation he just needed to know. Information was like a drug to him, and he just had to know more. Plus, while the Doctor might owe Jack, Ianto owed the Doctor. The time lord had given him his lover to begin with, and brought him back to him more times than he could count. It was like Ianto’s entire life was pinned around the alien man, and he wanted to do something to give something back.

“What happened?” He asked the short maid next to him. She stood silently for a few seconds solemnly thinking over the last few months since the Doctor arrived to stay.

“He had these friends, an’ they’re gone now. He just keeps losing people. I think he’s just tired.”

“I can relate.” Ianto replied in a hushed tone. Jenny clearly heard him, but decided not to push it, something he wasn’t nearly as good at. Even though it explained why the Doctor decided to hole up in the late 1800’s, it was still so different to what he had been told about the hero. “That doesn’t mean I gave up though.” This time Jenny did turn to look at him. 

“How d’you mean?” She asked, obviously cautious about the question.

“I met the Doctor a long time ago, probably before he lost a lot of the people he did. But the man I met wouldn’t have given up on the world for a few people he loved. He wouldn’t want anyone else to feel the same way that he did. He’d keep saving people.”

“I think he will eventually. I keep expecting him to rush in, kiss us goodbye, then run off to where ever it is he goes. But he hasn’t.” Ianto grimly nodded. Of course he would leave eventually, but the archivist needed him now, and he would convince him to help. If he could only get the Doctor to meet with him.

He was unaware of his hand firmly gripping at the edge of the basin, the only thing keeping him upright where he stood, utterly and completely shattered. He had no idea how long he had been awake, but the light outside the window was diming quickly. He didn’t even know if he had slept during his time in the void, or whether he spent what could have been close to eternity completely awake. He needed sleep. He needed it soon, but he also needed to be awake and ready when the Doctor called for him.

He felt a tap at his side and slowly moved his head so that he could see Jenny staring at him with concern. 

“You feeling alright?” She asked, looking into his glazed over eyes. He shrugged and glued his focus back on the dishes. The pale, neutral colors of the cups and saucers bled and blurred together. He wanted to wipe the sweat he knew would probably be on his brow, but he dared not take his hands away from the sink. “I think you’re swooning.” He rolled his eyes, making himself even dizzier.

“I’m not wearing a corset.” He replied, bitingly. 

“When’s the last time you slept?” He shrugged again. “Right, come on.” She separated his fingers from where they were attached, one by one. “Off to bed with you.”

“The Doctor.” Ianto protested, much too tired and stressed for full sentences.

“Can wait.” She finished for him. She tugged him to the stairs and he gawked at them, wondering how he could climb such a height. She led him, step by step, slowly up until they reached the top. She pulled him into the nearest guest room and shut the door behind them. Before she could do anything more, Ianto hobbled over to the bed, and was asleep before he even hit the mattress.

Jenny tutted in the back of her throat, and moved to warm the sheets.

Once he was securely tucked in, Jenny exited the room and trudged down the stairs, ready for some rest of her own. In the main hallway, she found her wife, looking just as fresh as when she left.

Jenny wondered how she did it. It might have something to do with being a reptile, but there were never any guarantees with Vastra. She loved that about her, unpredictable yet still always reliable. “The Doctor is ready to see our guest at any time.” She stated regally.

“Yeah, well he’ll have to wait. Poor bloke’s out cold.”

“That’s a bit rude of him.” She sounded more than a little bit scandalized.

“Not like he had a choice. Nearly didn’t make it to bed.” 

“Well he’d better be ready by morning.”

“I’ll see to it, love.”

“So punctual. I must test that out sometime.” Vastra commented, causing an excited flush high on Jenny’s face. A grin spread across her face and she took another step towards her wife.

“I’ll mark that down on your schedule, ma’am.” She whispered, before moving past her to their shared bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Every comment and kudos is more than appreciated.


	5. Feud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Ianto has a chance to meet with the Doctor, but how could he have expected the outcome?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so it's certainly been a while since I've posted. I'm very sorry for that. I should have the next one out fairly soon.
> 
> I would like to thank my darling beta boredsince1894, she's really helped me a lot with this series and I couldn't have done it without her.

Ianto hardly remembered the last few hours since he woke up. By now he was in the depths of the TARDIS, though he had little recollection of how he got there. Jenny had woken him an hour or two ago before forcing fresh clothes into his hand and ushering him to a basin of water. To him in was all a blur of fatigue.

The room he had ended up in was small and simple. The atmosphere was freezing and the bright white walls did nothing to warm him. Beeping machinery lined the walls, full of prongs and suckers that he was sure he didn’t want to know the uses of. Most of the gadgets were certainly nothing like anything he had seen on Earth, but despite how alien it was, he could still recognize it as an examination room. It smelled so sterile that it burned in his sinuses. He wanted to rub at his nose, assure himself it wasn’t melting away, but he daren’t move.

The heavy atmosphere in the infirmary was stifling as the Doctor hooked him up to machines and electrodes. He sat uncomfortably on a cold metal slab at the center of the room. The pit in his stomach grew heavier as he realized it resembled the med bay at the old Torchwood Hub. If he kept his eyes down and away from the Doctor, he could pretend that it was. He could pretend that it was Owen who was examining him now, that Tosh was just up the stairs, lost in her newest project. He stared directly at the Doctor in an attempt to dissuade the memories clinging to his brain. His resolve faded and he knew it was to no avail. Sadness and nostalgia were bombarding him at once, and he couldn't hold himself back any longer. He looked up and blinked rapidly to dispel the tears growing in his eyes. He tried to pretend the Doctor didn't notice, and the Doctor in turn pretended the same.

The air was still thick around them. The only sound was the beeping machines and the light clang of the tools that were used. Just like Owen, he failed to warm up the metal before touching it to Ianto's skin. While Owen used to do it as a joke, the Doctor seemed to just be too far into his own somber thoughts to notice the temperature. More than once Ianto reached to his throat to loosen the collar of the shirt he had already discarded as the examination began.

Ianto turned his eyes back up to the Time Lord. Avoiding his gaze, he examined his face, the disheveled clothes that hung off his frame, and the grimace that ruined his otherwise attractive his features. The Doctor looked awful, he thought. He simply looked ragged normally in this body. He had only met one version that was younger than this one, and he had only seen pictures of versions that were younger, but the new face was young with no wrinkles to mar it. The sad and subdued expression seemed displaced on it, as if he had already done more laughing than the last few had done put together.

Madame Vastra had said he was stationed here, and had settled the TARDIS in these clouds for months already. That also was unlike the Doctor that Jack had told him about after they'd sent themselves to bed and Jack's tongue had loosened from fatigue. That Doctor was constantly in motion. If hard times set in, it only caused him to speed up, to move from planet to planet, running from the pain he felt. Something was wrong with the thought of a stationary Doctor that chilled Ianto's bones and made him uncomfortable in his presence. They had a name in Torchwood One that seemed to apply to the man standing in front of him. The Oncoming Storm. Many species in their database knew the Doctor by this title, but it seemed separate from the man Ianto had learned more about in the past few years. Seeing him like this now, he saw it. He understood, and he had never wanted to.

Ianto had never been the type to speak out of turn unless it was necessary. He spoke only what was important and hardly anything more. From where he was sitting in the stale, dark atmosphere of the TARDIS med bay, it was important that he say something to the Doctor. It wasn’t safe, or healthy for him to be stuck up here, and he knew the Doctor would likely stay here if he could. He needed to convince him otherwise, and he needed even more to know why.

"Doctor," He hesitated, wondering how the old man he had come to both resent and respect would react to what he was about to ask. "Why are you here?"

Ianto saw the muscles in his back tense and twitch from where the Time Lord stood, facing his machinery.

"What's it to you?" He muttered, anger and sadness bubbling up from his tone. Ianto paused and thought before deciding to answer honestly.

"I've never known you to stay in one place for longer than a week."

"You've never known me." The Doctor answered, barely audible.

"I have. Perhaps not personally, but you're forgetting my previous employers." Ianto threw back, still wanting more information about the Doctor's state of affairs.

"Ah, how could I have forgotten the people who nearly destroyed this entire dimension?" He bit out, raising his voice so that it was at a normal volume. The tenseness caused it to feel like shouting. Each syllable shook against and unnerved him. He wanted to back down, but thought against it, stepping wholly into the conversation, damned the result.

"What I meant is that I have researched every bit of you at One. That may have told me more about the monster than the man, but Jack told me the rest. I know you, Doctor. I know you wouldn't just hide in the sky while the Earth is in peril on the ground. People need you out there. You save lives."

Although the Doctor's face was turned, Ianto glared, challenging him to explain himself, hoping that the challenge would be enough. He could see his eyes dart to and from him in the edges of his vision, trying to see him without feeling the harsh judgment in his gaze. His shoulders settled solemnly as he realized it would not work. He took a deep breath and then another.

"I save lives by risking others, I can't play with people's fate anymore. The world is better off without me."

"That's a lie. You change people."

"Into monsters."

"Into heroes. It might not always make sense but you give people the courage to take risks and save the world."

“Why should it matter if they saved anything?” The Doctor shouted, finally. As quick as the outburst came, it shrank back to a sad murmur. “Why should it matter? The universe always takes away the people important to me so why should I help it?”

“Have you ever thought that the universe was giving you a gift? It might take them away but it gave them to you in the first place.” Ianto said thinking of Lisa, Tosh and Owen. “All the people who have changed your life, made you who you are, you’d never have met them if you were shut up in here. You’ll never grow as a person if you don’t get the hell out of your little tree and man up. ” Both men sat in silent surprise, taken aback by how outspoken the archivist had become. “I’ve been there, Doctor.” He continued, quieter than before. Desperately he tried to get through to the god-like alien. “I’ve lost people I knew I couldn’t live without, and I made it through. I did it with the help of my team. My friends. You need to be with someone. Don’t be alone.”

The Doctor said nothing for a while. He stood with his back to the much younger man, looking only at the small screen in his hand. He was tense, tenser than he had been even a second before. He pressed his finger to the screen, trying to change the readout. Though the Doctor hadn’t looked directly at him since he had appeared on his doorstep, he was definitely trying to avoid his gaze now. He wanted to ask what was happening, but after the argument he had just had, he wasn’t sure it was welcome. The Doctor turned around and glanced from what he had in his hands to Ianto, face pale and gaping.

“What?” He asked, suddenly worried for his own health. “What’s happened?”

“Your scans show a few irregularities.” The Time Lord muttered, eyes firmly planted on the wall above Ianto’s head.

“What sort of irregularities?” He asked. The Doctor obviously didn’t know what to say, shuffling on the spot. More than one time his body surged forward, trying to find something to distract himself. He resisted the urge to walk away, to fiddle with the technology behind him.

“Ianto, I’m going to need you to be very calm.” He began, finally meeting him dead in the eyes.

“That’d be a whole lot easier if you weren’t being so dramatic.” He said, his voice was deadpan despite the suspenseful worry he felt.

“You’ve got high amounts of vortex energy coming off of you.”

“Vortex energy? What does that even mean?!”

“It’s the energy the rift runs on. The only problem is I don’t know how this could have happened.”

“I practically lived on top of the rift.”

“So did tons of people, but that’s not like this. Living on the rift can cause lasting effects, but none like what’s happened to you.”

“What has happened to me, Doctor?”

The look in his eyes grew distant and solemn, imagining all kinds of futures. “Vortex energy allows the rift to exist outside time and space. It’s what allowed you to come here, even though your version of the rift is closed down.”

“So?” The Welshman prodded, aware that the Doctor was avoiding the subject.

“Imagine if that kind of power was inside a human. The power to still go on, even when they’ve shut down and stopped working.”

It felt like the air got sucked out of Ianto’s lungs as he realized was the Doctor meant. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a whispered huff fell from his lips.

“Jack.” He croaked out, his eyes glazed over and he looked blankly at the floor, thinking too much on the possibilities.

“Yes, but the energy was forced into Jack all at once, you seem to have sucked it up over an extended period of time.”

“I was in the void. I don’t know how long.”

“Probably longer than it seemed. Which would explain the absolute permeation of the energy. It’s like it’s running through every one of your cells.”

“So you can’t reverse the process?” The Doctor seemed taken aback by this, mouth floundering open and closed, not knowing why Ianto would ask for death so soon after he was given immortality.

“No. No I can’t. I thought you wanted to go back to Jack, though.”

“I do. Of course I do. That doesn’t mean I don’t know how hard it’s been on him to live this long.”

“Then wouldn’t you want to be someone who wouldn’t have to leave?” The Doctor questioned, and Ianto only stared at the grated flooring. This wasn’t something the Doctor could understand, so human and raw. He had never had a shorter lifespan. He didn’t know how it felt leaving a lover, knowing he wouldn’t be the last person they’d love.

“It’s not that simple.” Ianto said, wanting less and less to be on the examination table. 

“Neither is why I choose to stay up here.” He responded, coldly.

“I know that. It’s just… I don’t even know what’s happened since I’ve been gone.” He shot back weakly, grasping at any straw he could find. He understood what the Time Lord meant, but their situations certainly weren’t the same. Now that the conversation was on him, he was almost more uncomfortable than before. He hadn’t had enough time to understand the news the Doctor had only just told him, especially how he felt about it. How would Jack react when he found out? Would he even want him to stay?

“Does that matter?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed. “Are you done? I think I need some time.”

Thrown off by the weak, hushed tone, the Doctor only nodded and gestured towards the door, secretly relieved that the encounter was over for now. No matter how long it was before Ianto was back with his captain, it would be an awkward journey getting there. At least he could delay that an hour or two until the Welshman returned.

Ianto slid from the chair and slunk from the room noiselessly, pulling his discarded shirt from the rack as he went. He only paused once he was outside the door, slipping into his garments and taking a direction at random and hoped it would lead to the exit, eventually. At least it would give him time alone with his thoughts if he got lost.

The hallway that he had taken was unnaturally long. The monotony was only partially comforting, but the longer he stared at the vaguely organic walls, the more he wanted to be back at the mansion. He lifted his arm up and grazed it on the wall, feeling the harsh grain. The light sensation was enough to keep him tethered, make himself aware that none of it was a dream. Everything he thought was impossible was happening, and he couldn’t decide whether it was for good or bad. 

He’d hardly expected to live past thirty. The knowledge that he had centuries was shocking, almost painful, as the news sped past his heart yet again. He might even have millennia. What would happen when he got back to his own time? How would he be able to tell Jack, or even Gwen? Would he ever be able to face his sister again, knowing that she would age and he wouldn’t?

He ran his hand through his hair, feeling how coarse it had become in just the last few days. He had washed himself, quickly, in the basin of water that Jenny brought out for him but it still didn’t seem like much against the filth he had been dragging himself through since he had been sucked into the rift. As much as he wanted to go home, he was horribly grateful to the people who were helping him get there. Though he hadn’t spent much time with Vastra, he could see the kindness in her, even if it was only through the help she gave him. He had seen even less of Strax, only a squat shadow as he moved through the corridors, creepy and reassuring at the same time. It was strange seeing an alien of a species that he had only known as militant helping around the house, and looking after his humanoid friends.

If only slightly, it reminded him of how Tosh used to view the universe. She would have understood better than anyone else what he was feeling now. Even with all the horror he had been through in the last few days, it was still amazing to see how similar life was, no matter the place. She would have loved to have seen what he had seen.

Before he could think more on it the wall underneath his fingertips was gone and he was standing in the main console room. It was dark, the only light was being emitted from round protrusions lining the surrounding walls. Under any other circumstance, Ianto would have stayed to study the spinning and swirling machine in front of him, but he didn’t linger for a second longer. He moved around the pillar in the center of the room for the door. He could gawk later, right now he needed to get to the ground and say his goodbyes.

He pushed the door against the blowing wind that swept through the clouds that he was standing on. His legs shook with uncertainty as he made his way towards the hole that led down the long spiral staircase. He really wished he didn’t have to make another trip up here. As beautiful as it must have been, he just couldn’t bring himself to pause and look. He took one tentative step of the ladder after another. Soon the air began to thicken, and he knew that he was nearly on solid ground. He let a breath out. He didn’t know what he was relieved about more, to be away from the tense atmosphere of the TARDIS or down from such a great height.

His feet touched the hard, dirt covered ground and he stretched the tension from his lungs and shoulders. Just as he was kneading his neck against the tight tendons in it, he saw something shift out of the corner of his eye. Before he even had time to respond, he saw another shadow on the other side. Just as he was sure that he had only been imagining things, an arm wrapped around his neck, and it held a cloth to his face. Before he knew what was happening or what to do about it, he was falling, the world fading away from his vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Be sure to comment and kudos as you see fit!


	6. Fatal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ianto wakes up somewhere he recognizes, but it's the place he'd least like to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning that there is mild torturing in this scene. It's not graphic but read at your own discretion.
> 
> I'd like to that my dear friend boredsince1894 for editing, even with all that she has going on. I don't know what I'd do without her. 
> 
> Apart from that, enjoy!

He woke up to the sensation of someone slapping him in the face. He didn’t dare open his eyes, thought, instead he shut them even tighter against it, willing it all to be a bad dream. The hand struck him harder, forcing him to comply. He cracked his eyes open. The light was dim, but he immediately recognized where he was. The Torchwood 3 vaults stood before him, though they were eerily different from what they had been in his time. The glass hadn’t yet been installed. Instead there were dark metal bars on the cages that lined the walls. They were starkly empty, though full of the ghosts of the aliens he was sure only held residence there for a few minutes before death. 

The only other people were two women, one standing over him, the other hanging back, a sly smile spread across her face. He recognized them from the archives, the few papers that were still intact from this time. Emily Holroyd, the leader, and Alice Guppy, her sadistic girlfriend. This was bad. He tried to take stock of his body, figure a way out, but he was tied to the chair where he sat, the knot secured far away from his hands. He tried to hide how his breathing quickened.

“Good morning.” Holroyd joked as Guppy chuckled behind her. Her voice was cold but smooth, chiming in his ears like a faerie’s song, foretelling death if he dare stay where he was. She seemed to read his thoughts, knowing just how much her presence unnerved him. She smiled. On anyone else’s face it would have been comforting, but there was something just off in her expression, a hint of madness that had him squirming in his seat. Just as quickly as it came it was gone, instead she directed her attention at the other woman. “Alice, dear, would you begin the scans?” 

“With pleasure.” Her lover dutifully responded, picking up a small scanner from the table in front of her that was laden with tech.

The scanner was nothing compared to what they had in the Hub in his time, but he didn’t recognize it from anything they had in the archives, working or broken. He had no idea how it was used, or what results would show.

He pressed himself closer to the starkly cold wood beneath himself, knowing that anything that would show up out of the ordinary would not be good things for his captors to know. Again, he looked for any way out of the vaults, if he could only get free, he would be safe. He knew the Hub better than even them, no matter how it had changed over the passing years.

Guppy stalked closer to him, her smile almost predatory. Shivers of panic ran down his spine, the need to run overpowering his senses. She raised her arm in front of her, the shrill beeps of the scanner drilling deep into his ears. She circled around him, as if trying to find the perfect angle to strike. Finally, the scanner chimed that it was finished and was ready to be read.

He held his breath as she read the screen, eyebrows inching farther and farther up her face the longer she stared. Whatever the results were, He could guess at what had shown up on his scan, and it wasn’t good that they now knew.

"You might want to have a look at this, darling," Alice said, her shocked voice holding the slightest bit of amusement even now. Emily went to her side, standing closer than she needed to, brushing her hand over her lover’s to hold them steady. A smile started at one corner of her mouth and stretched across her face slowly, showing teeth that looked like they could turn to fangs at any moment.

“Well isn’t that interesting,” She commented, looking between him and the screen, planning her next course of action. “Looks like he could be of use to us. We’d better make sure he talks.” Despite the panic threatening to swallow him whole, he did his best to not let it show. She turned to him, her face suddenly kind. 

"There is no option of escape or rescue. You will stay here for as long as we want you to. You're going to tell us everything we need to know. Aren't you?" Ianto glared into her smug face, refusing to even blink. "Come, now. I hardly think it was that unreasonable of a request." She continued, still mockingly innocent in tone. "I'll only ask nicely for so long." 

Still, he kept his mouth firmly shut, not giving in to a word of what her demands might be. She sighed exaggeratedly, beckoning at Alice to move forward, bringing a large box with her. He recognized it from the archives though his version was chipped and rusted away. He had never known what it did, a few of the pieces were lost to time and it no longer worked. Looking at it now, he knew exactly what it was used for. His heart sank. She pulled out the suckers and ripped his shirt open at the center, placing the cups over his now bare chest. His heartbeat was going faster than it ever had before. She was grinning from ear to ear, and he was sure his terror was showing on his face. 

"You still sure you won't talk?" Holroyd teased, strutting closer to him confidently. He only narrowed his eyes defiantly. He knew his resolve wouldn’t last forever, but he wouldn’t let himself falter now. The boss just shrugged in response. “See what you can get out of him. Don’t hold back, he’s resilient. If it’s good, I might do you a little favor later.” She told her girlfriend before exiting the vaults, whistling as she went, and Alice’s catlike eyes followed her frame to the doorway.

As soon as the door was closed and she was out of sight, Guppy turned back to her prey. She practically licked her chops at the sight of his obvious terror.

“Now, I’m going to tell you what I know about you, and you are going to give me answers.” Guppy began, not expecting a response from him so early in her game. “You came from the Rift two days ago in the center of Cardiff, but managed to be on your way out of the city little more than an hour later. You found refuge with a wealthy woman, unknown to anyone living in the vicinity, who we are now watching closely. You spent extensive time up a large oak tree in Regent’s Park. Upon scanning the tree, there were no lifeforms detected, yet you descended nearly two hours later even still. You have the same strong energy patterns as the Rift, something we’ve only seen possible once before.

“So what you are going to tell me about all this, is how?” Ianto still kept his mouth shut and his eyes resolutely forward. “Come now, you don’t want to start this in the worst possible way. I like to build up to the fun bits.”

He let a deep breath out, opening his mouth for the first time since he woke up. Alice inched forward to hear him. “It’s simple, really. I am a certified badass.” He quipped. Surprisingly, the expression on Guppy’s face didn’t even falter.

“Wrong answer.” She wrapped her hand around the lever on the side of the machine and inched it forward, only about a quarter of the way towards him.

His body froze sharply as an intense electrical current flowed through him. Every inch of his skin felt like it was crawling, each bone in his body felt like it would break under the unseen assault. He clamped his mouth shut, the only sound escaping his lips was a low groan of pain. As quickly and intensely as it had come, it stopped again.

“Now, we’re going to try again. One at a time, yeah? Why have you come through the rift?” She demanded. He tried to school his breathing, not show much it had hurt him. She kept her hand on the lever. They couldn’t know, he repeated to himself, over and over. They couldn’t know. 

She pushed on the lever again. His mind went blank, all ponderings on escape fleeing his mind completely. All he remembered was Vastra’s game. One word to tell why he couldn’t say. One word to make her stop.

“Torchwood.” He choked out. Just as he expected, she turned off the machine.

“What about us?” She prodded, voice insistent and strong, contrasting with Ianto’s weak croak. He shook his head, knowing that he couldn’t give her more information. “Come on. Now I know we didn’t say anything about ourselves when we brought you in, so you must have known prior. How?”

She pushed the lever again, pain set marginally higher than the last, but Ianto felt every increment as though it were huge. He was already wearing thin. The current stopped.   
“Fine, next question.” Guppy went on when he didn’t offer up any more information. “How can you have these energy patterns?”

His head lolled from side to side, the only answer his fatigued body could give. 

“Come on. You don’t want me turning it on again, do you?” He felt like he had shattered, like there were no more words he could give, his mind just couldn’t produce them.   
“Torchwood.” He uttered again, his head falling to his chest in defeat. He supposed, to an extent, he was telling the truth. All this happened because of Torchwood. This was all their fault, even if he was one of them.

“What about Torchwood?” She persisted, not giving in at all to the frustration that was lying an inch under her skin. 

“Please,” He said, willing himself to say something that would make her stop, but he couldn’t tell her the truth. He took a breath, nearly letting everything out, but was interrupted by a sound at the other end of the vault. The door sluggishly swung open with a great creak from its hinges and sent a gust of cool air over Ianto's bare chest. He shivered and shrank back into his chair, trying to force himself away from the chill. At least the entrance had distracted her from the machine, and him. He pulled his heavy head up from where he had laid it to rest, and his heart leapt as he saw who had entered.

He was all too familiar as he sauntered through the doorway, a large smile painted garishly on his face. He saw Ianto’s eyes widen, energy pumped back into him at the mere sight of his lover. This wasn’t his Jack, though. It was dangerous being in the room with him, but he felt like any torture was worth it for just this glimpse, even the destruction of the world.

Guppy turned her feral gaze on Jack as well, eyes even more terrifyingly bright as they fell on him.

"Harkness, you've come just in time to interrogate the new catch." Guppy purred, snapping Ianto out of his thoughts. 

"Please," Ianto begged, trying desperately to appeal to the good he knew was inside Jack. "You've got to tell them to let me go."

"He's not in charge here." Guppy scoffed, running a fingernail along his face, just hard enough to hurt.

"What's he in for? He looks human enough." Jack questioned, edging toward the chair. She was right, he didn't have any say, but he still hated it when they brought in someone who didn't deserve it. Especially Alice.

"He came through the rift, and he's got weird signals coming off of him. Got all the way to London before we could track him down."

"I keep telling you ladies, we need a branch over there." Ianto winced at his comment, but luckily no one noticed. "He talked yet?"

"Hardly. Just keeps muttering on about Torchwood."

"So he knows about us?"

"Looks like. Most of his scans are showing human, too."

"The bits that aren't?"

"Same bits as yours," She commented, slyly. Any hint of a smile fell off of Jack’s face, leaving only shock. He wanted to ask about it, find out how this man could be anything like himself, but he knew he had no power. Guppy’s smile widened at Jack’s expression, delighting in the horror she saw there. Jack noticed her toothy smile, and the expression was off his face within the same second and was replaced by a flirtatious grin.

"I just hope it's the bits I'm thinking of." He said and Ianto groaned, loudly.

"I'd rather the torture, honestly." He quipped sarcastically. He only saw a moment of Jack’s stern look, trying to wordlessly command him to keep quiet before Alice pushed the lever a fraction away from her, turning it on to the lowest setting. Ianto's head shot down, bracing himself against the next round of the electric shock.

“Alice, is this really necessary?" Jack questioned furiously. If this man was like him, he wanted him conscious, and preferably alive for the time being.

"Why? Worried about him?" She smirked, unfazed as she turned up the current. Ianto felt his entire body coiling and spasming. He was dimly aware that he must have been screaming.

"Alice," Jack warned.

"Because he's a freak, just like you." She turned it up a few settings higher.

"Jack!" Ianto shouted, every cell in his body crying for it to stop. Alice instantly turned off the machine and laughed.

"Well, there's something new. Space boy knows your name."

"I'm not from space." He panted. Alice placed a single dainty finger back on the lever, not moving it an inch.

"Where are you from?" She nearly sang at him.

"Cardiff! I'm from Cardiff." He whined, hoping she wouldn't turn it on again. She slowly moved so she was gripping the lever firmly, still not pushing it farther.

"Then why did you come through the rift?"

"I'm from the future. Please." He looked into her eyes, begging for mercy, searching for some compassion. He found none. A shiver cut through the pain running up and down his spine.

"How far?" Jack asked, wondering how far into the future he would have to stay in Cardiff.

"Jack, please, don't." He pleaded. The woman turned the device back on. By now sweat was dripping off of him, and he wished he had more clothing where it had cooled. He'd always hated the frigid atmosphere of the vaults. His jaw was clamped shut to the point of pain and he hoped he wasn't biting his tongue or lip. The current stopped again.

"Answer him." Guppy commanded, hand not moving away from the controls.

"I can't. Please." She moved it forward, higher than before.

"How far in the future?" She asked again loudly. He barely heard her over Jack's surprised shout and his own screams of pain. He shook his head rigidly. She cranked it even harder, and everything faded to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. I promise, things are going to get better soon.


	7. Forgetting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny realizes that Ianto's been gone longer than he planned and Ianto realizes he needs a lot of help if he's going to get out of the trouble he's in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and sorry for the long wait. I've been working on another project, but I'm ready to get back to working on this. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Special thanks to boredsince1894 for editing ♥ She's otherworldly amount of helpful and without her, I don't know where this story would be.

Jenny hummed a nonsense tune to herself as she filed the linen away in the cupboards. This was always her least favorite part of the day. Give her aliens and excitement and she’d be a happy housewife, any day. She preferred the rush of adrenalin when she joined Vastra on her adventures. She had a life that almost no one else this century could comprehend, and she loved every second of it. Society was finally accepting things that she had known for years. She had only wished she and Vastra could have met Darwin before his death to teach him how little he had actually known. Victoria would have to do.

She heard the dull thud of Strax wandering behind her, and again it struck her as odd how normal this had become. Outer space was in her home, and all she wanted was for him to watch his step. The quietly satisfied smirk never left her face as she placed stack after stack of cloth into the closet. Strax thumped behind her again, this time stopping at her side.

“Where are my grenades?” He interrogated, his tone commanding and harsh.

“Strax,” She warned, not bothering to move from where she was kneeling.

He sighed heavily. “Excuse me, madam, do you happen to know the location of my grenades?” He amended. Jenny rolled her eyes and hopped to her feet, shutting the closet as she did. She looked down at the squat alien, wondering why she and Vastra had been left with him. Sometimes she enjoyed the relationship they all had with each other, but at times like this she wished they had a less violent pet.

“What exactly do you think you need them for?” She attempted to sound threatening and authoritative, but the best she could come up with was bossy. It felt displaced on her young voice, and she jumped at how weird it had felt to say it. Lucky for her, Strax certainly didn’t know the difference and managed to look mildly guilty.

“Well, there was a squirrel in the back garden which has been eating the Ganymedian Roses and I thought I’d rid us of the infestation.” Jenny caught herself rolling her eyes again.

“Strax, you can’t just go around exploding squirrels.” She reprimanded, placing her hands firmly on her hips. Stax’s expression went blank as he thought about what she had said. His face squashed up in confusion after a few long moments.

“Er, why not?” He asked. She picked up her basket and began to walk away from him.

“Because you’ll anger the neighbors!” She called over her shoulder.

“Shall I blow them up as well?” Strax questioned, sounding much like an excited child.

“Strax!” She said, whirling around to stare him down. “Absolutely not! You can’t just blow people up all you like!”

“Madam, I’m not sure I-” Before he had even finished, Jenny was barreling down the hall in the opposite direction, looking for her wife. She didn’t know whether it was because they both weren’t human, but Vastra was always better at dealing with Strax. At least the grenades were so well hidden that it brought her some time.

She took turn after turn through the frankly too large home before she finally ran headlong into her wife.

“There you are!” She pulled back to look at her. “I’ve been searching all over the house, haven’t I?”

“Here I am.” Vastra said back cheerily. “Oh, did your friend Mr. Jones say whether he was coming back or not?”

Jenny was caught off guard for a moment, suddenly remembering that she should have a guest to look after. She looked past Vastra to check the grandfather clock slowly ticking away at the end of the hall. Ianto had been away for several hours already. 

“Why? He not back yet?” 

Vastra shrugged in response. “Perhaps he was most eager to return home?”

“No, only he said he would come say goodbye, didn’t he?”

Vastra looked sour as she said, “You’ve grown very fond of him.” Jenny rolled her eyes and stood on tiptoe to kiss her.

“I’m fond of you.” She assured her, and Vastra let herself smile. “Could you give the Doctor a ring, though? Just to make sure.”

Her wife sighed. “Yes, of course. Honestly, the things I do for you…” Jenny gave her one last kiss before walking away, calling over her shoulder as she did. 

“Yet I’m the one doing the washing up...” She giggled and turned the corner. Her wife sighed wistfully and began her walk to her office.

 

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Vastra groaned from where she was hunched over her telephone. She’d been trying to reach the Doctor for at least a quarter of an hour now. Though he was certainly never quick to answer, it usually didn’t take this long. She was almost ready to call it quits, assume that he was busy getting Jenny’s friend back to whenever he came from, when the line finally went through.

“Vastra…” He breathed into the phone, sounding even more upset than normal. “What?”

“You know, it is very improper to not greet someone when the call for you. Now, you stay on the line, Doctor! We were just wondering if you had managed to return Mr. Jones to his time.” She finished sternly.

“What?” The Doctor asked again, his voice almost harsher than it had been before, demanding an answer quickly.

“Jenny asked me to find out if you had taken Mr. Jones home yet.” She stated, quickly losing her patience.

“He left. A few hours ago.” He muttered, losing himself in worried thought before he caught himself. “He should be back there by now.”

“I assure you, he is not…” She huffed, trying not to give way to concern as well, albeit mild.

“He shouldn’t be walking around the city...”

“Shall I attempt to find him?” She almost groaned. It was meant to be a quiet night in, after all. 

“No…” The Doctor murmured down the line. “I’ve managed to track him. Get all three of you to the TARDIS within the hour.”

“All three?”

“Yes, and weapons. I’ve found him.”

 

TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW TW

 

Ianto felt nothing. He tried opening his eyes and found that they were already open. Still, the entire world around him was black. His senses were dimmed and he tried not to panic.

He had to be back in the void, it was the only thing even close to what he was experiencing now. But this was different, he realized. Before, he had a body. Despite a sense of weightlessness, he could still feel himself, that he was there, that he was alive. Now, there was nothing.

But there _was_ something. He couldn't hear or see but he knew there was something. Like he was a child who had woken up from a nightmare. He knew he was being watched, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Before he could even try, sharp pains flew through him. They mapped out his limbs, made him acutely aware that he was in one piece after all. There was a sensation of knives dragging through every inch of him, and a stinging light burning his eyes.

Gasping, he drew air desperately into his lungs, felt his stomach drop into place, his heart start its hammering anew. Frantically his eyes jotted around the dim room, taking in all the information he could.

He was still in the vaults, the ropes still tied him to the heavy chair. Jack stood across the room. He turned to him quickly, shock evident on his face. The woman next to him grinned in sadistic glee.

"Told you so." She chimed into Jack's ear. The captain stared straight ahead, directly at Ianto. It was more than shock on his face. There was heartbreak and wonder. He could see the questions that always seemed present when Jack looked at him, the need to learn more. It was almost his Jack, or at least it was beginning to be.

He groaned and lolled his head forward as a pounding pain spread through his joints. For a few seconds he thought Alice must have turned the machine on again, but she stood steps away from the control, the lights of it still completely off.

"How?" Jack whispered, eyes still glued to the younger man's slumped form.

"Help me," Ianto croaked, almost forgetting it wasn't his lover that he was asking.

"I've told you," Alice sang, almost skipping back to the controls. "He can't and he won't." Ianto felt the hopelessness settle in his gut as he looked at her beaming face. He was helpless to stop the paradox he had been avoiding for days. He would have been better off if he had never been resurrected.

Guppy drew her arm up towards the controls and his heart leapt from his chest.

"Please!"

"Alice, stop!"

The two men yelled in unison. Jack's hand shot out to pull hers away from the lever, twisting it behind her back. She only laughed in response, knowing she would eventually get her way, even if it killed Jack.

Everyone froze as the claxon of an alarm went off, followed by a sound Ianto never thought he'd be happy to hear. It was obvious Jack recognized the noise as well. He released Alice in his surprise.

"It can't be," he said in disbelief, looking around the room to find the police box rapidly appearing in the corner. The door to it creaked open and a young woman stomped out, holding a sword as her side, already free of its sheath. "Doctor?!"

"Jenny!" Ianto exclaimed in relief. The girl's eyes settled on Ianto's battered and slumped body before turning back to the still open door of the TARDIS. 

"He's here!" She shouted. "We found him!" She ran to his side, using her sword to cut him free from his restraints. Alice moved forward to stop her, but stopped a short distance away, eyeing the weapon warily. Jenny sent her a challenging glance, daring her to come any closer to her or Ianto. The man could hardly bring his arms forward to rub at his wrists where the rope had cut in. The fatigue was almost too much for him to bare, yet he still managed to heave himself to his feet. 

As he swayed, attempting to remain upright, Vastra and Strax charged out of the TARDIS, weapons held aloft. 

"Please remain calm as you are all obliterated." Strax commanded, panning his gaze to everyone in the room. 

"Don't obliterate anyone." The Doctor muttered as he slipped from the still cracked doors of his ship. He peered at the wooden box he had in his arms, holding it up to his eyes in order to see the locking mechanism better. It was eluding him as to how he had managed to lock it in the first place. He glared at the lock before producing his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, running it over the metal. It sprung open and he grunted to himself, shifting it in his grip to pull two thick gloves over his hands. He glanced up at where Alice and Jack stood at the other end of the room. "Strax, there should be another human in the upper levels, bring her down here, and try not to get shot." The alien made a movement part way between a nod and a bow and shuffled awkwardly from the room. "And don't hurt her!" The Doctor shouted after him, and hoped he had heard. He turned his attention to Jenny and Ianto, "If you could tie up our guests."

Ianto tried to flex the pain out of his joints as they moved forward together. Vastra aimed her gun at Alice, ready if she made a single unexpected move. The other woman just glared icily back, practically hissing at her adversary. Jenny tightly secured Alice to the chair that Ianto was just in, pulling at the ropes harshly to make sure she had no chance of escape.

Ianto took what was left of the rope, tying Jack to the bars of one of the vaults, trying as hard as he could to make it comfortable without releasing him. Jack turned his head as far as it could go, trying to see the man behind him as he poured over the knots. His brow was contorted in confusion, but Ianto pretended he didn't notice. 

"Aren't you afraid I'll get out?" Jack asked him, keeping his voice low to keep the others from hearing. A tiny smile forced its way onto Ianto's face, though he tried to fight it.

"You're not exactly great at getting out of knots. Though usually you're not trying." He muttered, knowing he shouldn't have said anything at all. He was aware of Jack staring at him more in surprise than confusion now, but he still kept his eyes low. "Besides, you helped me...with Alice." 

"You're like me," Jack said as if that explained why he had torn Alice away from the dreaded control. He flexed his hand the best he could, brushing his fingertips against Ianto's. Ianto paused what he was doing, relishing the contact. 

"Jack..." He began, but realized he didn't know what to say.

"What's your name?" Jack asked, and the younger man looked up at him. He began to shake his head, but his neck was stiff and didn't allow it. 

"I can't." He said, going back to what he had been doing. "I'm sorry." Jack opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off from across the room. The Doctor stood in the center, holding his box closed with his gloved hands.

"Where is Strax?" He shuffled the box from one hand to the other, looking for anything to occupy himself with. "Hope he hasn't killed anyone." He added quietly, though not quiet enough to keep everyone else in the room from hearing.

"I don't." Jack whispered to Ianto, who attempted to hold back any laughter. "Is that who I think it is?" He asked Ianto, sure that he had to be correct. Ianto couldn't decide whether it was a good idea that he tell him. He moved to stand beside him, having finished fastening his hands. Ianto nodded, and as Jack's eyes widened the younger man's mouth twitched towards a smile, if only to reassure him. Small as the smile was, Jack wasn’t even looking to see it. His eyes were glued to the Doctor. His eyebrows pinched together, either in pain or confusion, Ianto wasn’t sure. “But he’s…” He trailed off, his gaze not wavering.

“It’s been awhile for him. A long while.”

Jack nodded. “Looks sad.” Finally he tore his eyes away to look at Ianto closely. “So do you.”

Ianto’s face softened and he opened his mouth to speak some kind of reassurance, but before he was able to, they heard a loud crash from the entrance.

Strax stumbled in, holding a bound but thrashing Holroyd over his shoulder. He threw her to the ground next to her girlfriend.

“Careful, Strax!” The Doctor shouted at him. “Don’t need to give them too many bruises.”

“Right. Of course, sir. As little evidence as possible.” Strax deducted proudly. The Doctor nodded back at him sharply. He moved to the center of the room to dole out orders.

“Vastra, Strax, into the TARDIS, just in case they come to their senses early.” They quickly and readily obeyed him, and he whirled around to talk to Ianto and Jenny. 

“Jack will be able to get out, sir.” Ianto provided quickly, and the Doctor managed to look impressed for only a minute. He moved forward, taking a large slimy worm from his box as he did, stalking closer to Guppy and Holroyd. 

“We’ll have about five minutes.” He muttered before touching the worm to their skin. Immediately it was like a trance, both going limp, their eyes glazing over. 

“What’s…?” Ianto began, staring intently.

“It’s like your retcon. I think it’s where they got the idea.” The Doctor told him, straightening up. He started to walk towards Jack, who squirmed in his restraints, trying to free himself. He eyed his hero, fear rising in his eyes. The Doctor’s brow contorted, determined to ignore the panic showing on a man that had once been his friend. “I’m sorry.” He breathed out, almost sure that no one in the room heard it.

"Doctor, wait." Ianto commanded. He was surprised to see that the Doctor obeyed his request, if begrudgingly. He moved toward Jack, attempting to ignore how the captain was looking at the Doctor in awe. "You're going to have to forget this." He told him, cupping either sides of his face, hands protectively covering his neck. Jack tore his eyes away from the Doctor to stare back at him. His eyes narrowed.

"Then tell me who you are. If I can't remember, it doesn't matter, right?" 

"You'll find out soon enough." He reassured him.

"But it's not. It's not soon enough." He desperately tried to appeal to him. Ianto couldn’t help but smile.

"You're more interested in me than the Doctor?"

"You're the mystery here. A pretty sexy mystery at that."

"Watch it, captain," He said as he leaned in to press their lips together for only a second. It felt nothing like how it used to feel when Jack kissed him. There was something missing. That something was what allowed him to tear himself away and move back towards the Doctor. Jack’s eyes followed him, confusion and curiosity mixed on his face.

"Okay," He said, signaling him to use the worm. "Now. See you soon," The Doctor moved forward. Ianto closed his eyes and looked away. Without taking her attention off of her two prisoners, Jenny moved closer to him, holding his arm in silent reassurance. He looked to her and nodded. They waited until the Doctor backed away to retreat back to the TARDIS before the Torchwood operatives regained awareness. The two followed him, arms still linked in support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Be sure to comment and/or kudos as you see fit.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
